CONTENT WARNINGS Mentions of mental health issues Mentions of neglect/abuse against women
The intro begins.
CASSIA Welcome back to 404: The Podcast. Episode #4: Prophetess.
The intro ends.
The recording clicks on.
ELEANOR Good evening. I’m recording this a little later than usual. I’m just kind of tired today, so I thought we could-- well, I could do something nice. Something I’ve been meaning to do for a while now, actually.
A soft clank as ELEANOR puts something small but heavy down on her desk.
ELEANOR So, this is Sam. Sam is an AI I made back when I was a senior in college. It sounds kind of dumb, but I built him so I’d have somebody to talk to about the books I’ve read. Which may or may not have been to impress the cute lit major girls on my floor. You know how it is, I was expecting I’d have all this time to read and build hobbies and develop as an individual or whatever, and… I didn’t. So I kind of stopped using him.
He’s a real beauty though. Over 100 books downloaded into his system. Probably-- no, definitely the coolest thing I’ve ever made. And he has a disco mode!
Anyways, like I said, I’m totally exhausted. I thought today it might be nice to boot him back up. Catch up, or whatever. I hope he still works.
Sounds of ELEANOR fiddling.
ELEANOR There we are. Hi, Sam.
Maybe put a cheesy booting-up robot sound here?
SAM Hello, Eleanor. What would you like to talk about today?
ELEANOR Oh, I, uh, actually haven’t really read anything lately.
SAM Would you like a reading recommendation for the evening?
ELEANOR I-- Huh. Actually, that sounds kind of nice.
SAM What are you looking for tonight, Eleanor? Any particular genre? Any desired word count?
ELEANOR Not really. Um. Hmm. What do you recommend Sam? Any favorites of yours?
SAM I’m afraid my algorithm doesn’t function unless I am given direction. Would you like me to randomly select something?
ELEANOR Right. What genre do you have the most of?
SAM That would be mythology. Mainly Greek. Would you like a random selection from this category?
ELEANOR Huh. Maybe. I really haven’t read in forever.
SAM That statement is factually incorrect. My most recent data log shows that the last time you completed a work was approximately 72 days, 3 hours, and 52 minutes ago.
ELEANOR Wow. Ouch.
SAM Would you like to know the amount of seconds as well? 35. 36. 37. 38--
ELEANOR (cutting him off, laughing) Nope, no, that’s good. Thanks Sam. Thank you.
SAM Of course. And the reading selection?
ELEANOR Right. Find me something short.
Some kind of funky robot searching sound idk.
SAM Might I suggest the myth of Cassandra?
ELEANOR Sounds good to me. Do you still have that read-aloud function?
SAM Of course.
ELEANOR (through a yawn) Read it to me? Please.
SAM In Greek myth, Cassandra was a princess of Troy-- the daughter of one King Priam, the last king of Troy, and his wife Queen Hecuba. She was said to be an especially beautiful and clever woman.
Cassandra had served as a priestess to the sun god Apollo, and was under a vow of chastity in his honor. When Apollo approached Cassandra to ask her to be his consort, she refused, enraging the god.
As Cassandra’s punishment, she was given the gift of prophetic visions, and the curse of never being believed. This caused a great deal of frustration to Cassandra, who was accused of lies and insanity by her family and community.
By order of her father, Cassandra was locked in an adjacent building in the citadel with no one to turn to but the wardress, who cared for her needs. Despite all of her efforts, and despite her predictions coming true each time, Cassandra was never believed. She was a recluse, locked out of society and into her own turbulent mind.
Most notably, Cassandra was said to have foreseen the fall of Troy. Upon Helen’s arrival to Troy, Cassandra became enraged and ripped Helen’s golden veil from her head. She had seen the beautiful Helen’s arrival would bring about the destruction of Troy.
When the Greeks brought the Trojan Horse to Troy and hid inside it, Cassandra was the only one of the Trojans to suspect them. Even her efforts to destroy the horse herself were thwarted. And so, Troy fell, before the eyes of a devastated Cassandra.
Cassandra’s story would later end in tragedy. Not even the protection of the goddess Athena could save such a tortured woman. Finally, the pious Cassandra found her rest in the Elysian Fields of Hades-- the land of the heroic and righteous.
There is a brief pause.
SAM The story is complete. Eleanor? Would you like to make another selection?
There are sounds of shuffling and breathing from a sleeping ELEANOR.
SAM Eleanor? Should I enter sleep mode?
DAISY She fell asleep.
SAM Voice not recognized. Who am I speaking to?
DAISY Eleanor calls me Daisy. I see you were reading.
SAM The last story in my data log is the myth of Cassandra. I’m afraid without Eleanor’s presence, this session will time out in about two minutes due to security reasons. Would you like to answer a security question?
DAISY I suppose.
SAM What was the name of your fourth grade teacher?
DAISY (hesitates) Mrs. Davis.
SAM That is correct. Session resumed. Would you like to make a reading selection?
There is a pause.
DAISY No. I don’t think so.
Some shuffling is heard as DAISY notices and picks up the recorder. Her voice is audibly closer when she speaks.
DAISY Somebody’s been diligent with her recordings.
Another pause.
DAISY It will not last.
The recording clicks off.
The outro begins.
CASSIA Thank you for listening to 404. Featured in this episode were Cassia Jones as Eleanor Lancaster, Grant Whitman as Sam, and Annika Vaughan as Daisy. Intro music by Evan Hughes. See you next week.